La Frontera 🌵 Podcast, Episode 9 - Open Banking for the People: Redefining Credit Access in Colombia

We first met Andrés last summer in Bogota during Colombia Tech Week as we were on a shuttle (courtesy of the folks at Wagon) on the way to Daniel's finca (a finca is a farm or estate for our non-Spanish speaking friends) for a fun get-together to close out an incredible Tech Week.

Andrés was sitting in front of Cyrus and as they were talking, Cyrus mentioned the podcast. Nine months later, we’re excited to finally make this episode happen, especially after Monet hit major milestones recently!

A little announcement before we dive in…

🎉 We are hosting our FIRST EVER EVENT during NY Tech Week (June 2-6)! 

Come join us for a cup of coffee ☕️ (provided by Bright Cup Coffee), some light bites, and good conversations. RSVP via the Partiful link below 👇 and make sure to share this with your friends and network. Let’s make this HUGE 🙌

Episode 9 Summary

🔁 From Public Sector to Payday Pivot – How a government economist became a fintech founder and why Monet's original payroll model didn’t scale.

💸 First Loan, First Chance – Why Monet focuses on giving first-time borrowers access to credit—and how they built trust in a segment banks ignore.

📊 Scoring the Invisible – With 350+ behavioral features and no credit bureau data, Monet built its own ML credit model from scratch.

🌍 Why LatAm, Why Now – Andrés Londoño explains why half of LatAm adults still can’t get credit—and how Monet is filling that gap.

🇨🇴 Colombia’s Startup Moment – The rise of fintech, policy tailwinds, and why Andrés believes Colombia is ready for breakout success.

💥 YC, Valuations & the Venture Squeeze – What Andrés learned from fundraising during the 2021 boom, and why Monet’s cap table now leans international.

Monet: Credit Access for the 99%

🚀 Founded: 2020 in Colombia
📈 Stage: Series A
💰 Total Funding Raised: Over $10M (equity and debt)
🤝 Investors: Y Combinator (S21), K5, River Side Ventures, and others
🎯 Mission: To democratize access to fair, fast credit in Latin America by leveraging data and technology to serve the financially invisible.

Monet is a Colombian fintech company that provides instant, interest-free cash advances to underbanked consumers with recurring income, including gig workers, freelancers, and those with poor or no credit history. In a market where traditional lenders often overlook large segments of the population, Monet uses open banking data and AI to assess risk based on real-time transactional behavior rather than outdated credit scores. Users can request loans in seconds, with disbursements typically ranging from 50,000 to 500,000 COP, helping them manage urgent liquidity needs without falling into predatory lending cycles.

🎓 From Public Policy to Payroll Lending

Andrés didn’t start in startups — he thought he wanted to be a politician.

He spent four years in government, working at Colombia’s Ministry of Finance and DIAN, the national tax authority. That gave him an inside look at how formal systems worked — or didn’t.

But like many LatAm founders, it was a chance conversation that sparked his pivot into tech.

🧁 The Founding Story: Not a Straight Line

Monet didn’t start as an open banking company.

The first version of Monet was modeled after U.S. earned wage access products — essentially payday loans tied to payroll that were repaid via automatic salary deductions. While the concept made sense, it proved unscalable in the Latin American context for several reasons:

1. Employer-by-employer integration: Each partnership required negotiating directly with employers.

2. Fragmented HR systems: Many companies used legacy or non-cloud-based HR software, making integrations complex or impossible.

3. Limited reach: The model excluded informal workers, freelancers, and gig economy participants — a huge share of the LatAm workforce.

The two co-founders pivoted. Today, Monet offers short-term, interest-free loans ranging from 50,000 to 500,000 COP — typically to first-time borrowers who can’t access traditional credit.

They’ve already granted well over one million dollars in loans and served more than 700,000 customers, building traction in a demographic most lenders ignore.

Continue reading to figure out how they got there… 🤔